The Round of 16 (Day 9)

This is a sad story. Ignore it if you so choose.

After our Safari was over, we had to drive all the way back to the Thatchery. We were absolutely bushed. We still had a room to the four of us, so we didn't disturb anyone when we came in.

Our plan was to get up and get to Rustenburg WAY before the game. It was the Royal Boefoking Stadium- the same location as the draw against England. We had heard horror stories from US fans that were there that it took 2 hours to get in and about 4 to get out. Our plan was simple: show up before everyone else, party in the stadium after we win until everyone is gone.

The first part went well. We had to park in a remote lot. We were the 7th car there, and hung out with the other Americans drinking beers and kicking the ball around- it felt like a mixture of a pasture party and a tailgate. We took a bus to the stadium.

It was early- we had to convince them to go.

At the stadium we walked as a group through the townships surrounding the Stadium to Luckys.

The Outlaws had planned to meet up there- a township bar and butchershop that had lots of capacity and, until June 12th, very very very few white patrons.

It was certainly the strangest walk to a bar ever.

Despite Ghana being supported by every non-American with a ticket, the township kids were happy to see us. Ghanan visitors did not bring a ton of revenue.

The dirt in Rustenburg is very red, unsurprisingly.

Once we arrived at Lucky's we planted the flag over the bar in one of the backrooms and watched Uruguay beat South Korea while drinking beer. There were a ton of South Africans and English cheering for Ghana, so the vibe was very mixed.

I hid an ICE in our bucket of beers. We added a rule that you must salute or have your hand on your heart while chugging a beer or ICE with USA stuff on.

Scott helped me with the same Stripes as for Algeria.

It was a late game, so it was a night march. Scott's face says 'Liberty For All'

Night march

I don't really want to talk about the game. We lost a game we could have won.

English fans were there in numbers. They assumed they would win the group. Snarky, insulting, terrible fans. Some had shirts that said 'Ghana's Number 1 Fans By Default' and on the back 'Donavans [sic] a D*CK'. Of course the South Africans and other Africans were rooting for Ghana. It is fine even for the English. But they were whistling and yelling during the Star-Spangled Banner and throughout the game. We chanted 'Missus Bridge is going down' and '2nd place' and 'Germany' a bit, but it wasn't worth it. Kingman is a Royalist name, but I will be adopting ABE- Anyone But England- for now on.

Limey Bastards

We could have won the game. But we didn't. The Ghanans flopped and whined like the worst, but we could not finish. Gooch was gone. We needed Chuck Davies. Extra time. We would have won in penalties. It was brutal.

After the match. Bloody but unbowed.

Leaving Rustenburg after losing would be like if the Super Bowl had actually been in New Orleans and you were a Colts fan. Poor infrastructure, obnoxious bandwagon fans (I was rooting for the Saints this Super Bowl, but you should understand) and the general feeling that you need to just get out of their as soon as you can. It felt like a mix of Ellis Island and the last chopper out of Saigon. Drumming, taunting, jeering mixed with long lines, no direction from the lazy and incompetent cops and workers manning the stadium, and a bus ride from hell just to get to the car and wait in traffic. I was the driver for the night. The game was over at 11PM. We did not get to the Thatchery until 2:15. The drive was dangerous, miserable, and our car was silent as the grave. That was a pretty bleak 3-4 hours of life. Based on that- it is clear the money spent on updating stadiums was not used well when it came to Rustenburg.